Baby Not Getting Enough Sleep?

[alison]

9 hours of sleep is about what I need (I'm not getting it, but that's another story)....

What are his wake phases like? Is he pretty pleasant?

I guess I'd just bring it up at the next appointment, and she what your pediatrician says.

[ladymoreta]

He's really happy and alert during his awake times in the mornings. Afternoons are usually pretty good, and evenings are iffy - good and bad days. If he's fussy, I try to get him to nap, but he doesn't always sleep before his next feeding.

Yeah, I guess it's really a pediatrician question, since what's enough for him might be different. I have an appointment next week.

[Pollyanna]

And as long as you love your child and aren't using the closet as a babysitter, you are probably doing ok.

I can use the TV as a babysitting though...right?

[Deebs]

DD slept like a dream. When DS came along and only slept about 9 hrs per day, I was REALLY worried. I also read all the things that said babies need more like 15ish hours of sleep. My ped basically said that because he was a happy baby, it must be what he required. If it gives you any hope (which I know during sleep deprivation it may not), DS now sleeps almost 12 hours at night and takes a 2-3 hour nap during the day - he's two. Once he started really being active (like walking), he slept a lot more.

He is only about 6 weeks correct? You can rock that sweet little baby all you want, it is NOT a big no-no. I rocked my babies until at least 6 months and sometimes longer, they are all fine sleepers. Infancy is fleeting, enjoy your rocking and snuggling time.

Agreed. I rocked (well, nursed, really) all 3 of mine to sleep to almost the year mark. 2 are great sleepers (Jacob and Mattie) 1 was rougher, and I did the same thing with each. With a newborn I think you do whatever you need to do to get them to sleep. You are doing GREAT! And yes, step away from the google ...

[DCJenn]

If it makes you feel any better we undid a lot of what the dude had learned in the orphanage- I held him and we rocked in the rocking chair and I gave him a bottle at bedtime- He had to learn to trust that we were going to be there. We had to start that process at 13 months instead of Day One. He's the greatest sleeper ever. That baby just wants mom/dinner/sleep period.

Jenn

[SoonerTexan]

Hmmm...judging by the 2.5 hour nap the little dude took today during our lunch gabfest, I think he just needs to be surrounded by more gabbing females--that puts any man to sleep, right?

[ladymoreta]

I think you're right - that's one of the longest naps he's had! Maybe I just need to go out to lunch every day!...

So tonight is going better than last night so far. More cluster feeding, but only from 7:00-10:00, and then he slept until just after midnight. He's almost done eating now, so we'll see if he stays asleep for another couple hours. I hope so!

I am late to the party but I know it is always comforting to hear that other babies are/were as bad as yours! My DS is 2 now. I don't remember how much he was sleeping at that age but he has always been at or below the minimum amount of sleep that they are "supposed" to have. Other newborns were always sleeping and he was always looking around, far too interested in the world to sleep! Naps were always pathetically short until he gave up altogether at 18 months.
I worried about it for a long time, but have gradually come to realize that, like eating, you can't make them sleep! You have to trust that they are getting what they need or you'll go crazy worrying!

[ladymoreta]

Thanks! I definitely need to hear it. We're always changing his schedule, too, because of DH's schedule. I've tried to keep it the same, regardless, but I haven't figured that out yet. DH was on nights for two weeks, then back on days for the week the AC guys were in our house replacing our system, then he was back on nights last week. I'm sure that many changes in four of the seven weeks DS has been here haven't helped...

[DCJenn]

I think that was my sanity saver- I keep (and have kept) the dude on the same schedule regardless of the other people around. Occasionally we have a neighborhood event that goes late but generally, he's in bed every night at 8pm. I have found him reading books in bed later in the evening (which is fine if he's not tired) but most of the time we read a book, and bam, he's out like a light. He wakes up at the same time most mornings- no one in my house is an early riser so he's up at 7 most days. Even when he was a baby. Also, if you didn't get the fisher-price aquarium that straps to the crib, get it. It plays all kinds of music plus a couple different water sounds. He LOVED it and once he was old enough to work it himself, it bought us 20-30 minutes in the am while he entertained himself.

Jenn